Measuring urban rainfall with a dense Commercial Microwave Link network in Lagos, Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjan Droste ◽  
Aart Overeem ◽  
Jan Priebe ◽  
Daniele Tricarico ◽  
Linda Bogerd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
R Package ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Local Network ◽  
Physically Based ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Extra Difficulty ◽  
Microwave Link

<p>Measuring urban precipitation adds extra difficulty to the already challenging task of quantitative precipitation estimation. Buildings form obstructions that can block ground-based precipitation radar signals, and the complex urban microclimate makes gauge measurements representative for only a very small area. Performing precipitation measurements in an urban setting thus benefits from using many different data sources, to capture the largest possible range of scales. As such, opportunistic sensing techniques are especially valuable for urban hydrometeorological research: the use of unconventional data sources to extract valuable data that can allow us to estimate urban precipitation. One of the more prominent data sources is the use of Commercial Microwave Links –CMLs – to measure rainfall, by making use of the signal attenuation between cell phone towers. This method of estimating rainfall has been mostly tested and applied in developed countries that already have reasonable coverage of conventional precipitation measurements. However, the most benefits are to be made in developing regions lacking such measurement networks. Only few studies address this, generally using relatively small datasets.</p><p>This research focuses on tropical CML rainfall estimation in Lagos, Nigeria. This African megacity has a dense network of CMLs and few official measurement stations, making it an interesting area to study the effectiveness of urban CML precipitation measurements in such a region. We employ the open-source R package RAINLINK to obtain 15-min rainfall maps based on data from a few thousand CMLs during the rainy season. We optimise the most important RAINLINK parameters by comparing to rain gauge data, considering local network and environmental conditions. In addition, disdrometer data from Nigeria or similar climates are used to compute the values of the physically-based coefficients relating specific attenuation to rainfall rate.</p>

scholarly journals Measuring tropical rainfall with a dense Commercial Microwave Link network in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjan Droste ◽  
Aart Overeem ◽  
Jan Priebe ◽  
Daniele Tricarico ◽  
Linda Bogerd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
R Package ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Local Network ◽  
Dense Network ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Rain Gauges ◽  
Precipitation Measurement ◽  
Physically Based ◽  
Microwave Link

<p>Accurate, global rainfall estimates are crucial for many fields, e.g. agriculture or disaster management. While developed countries typically enjoy a dense network of rain gauges and radar, in many less developed areas across the globe, precipitation measurement networks are sparse. To obtain rainfall data for these regions, opportunistic sensing techniques are especially valuable: the use of unconventional sources to extract valuable data that can allow us to estimate precipitation. One of the more prominent data sources is the use of Commercial Microwave Links –CMLs– to measure rainfall, by making use of the signal attenuation between cell phone towers. This method of estimating rainfall has been mostly tested and applied in developed countries that already have reasonable coverage of conventional precipitation measurements. However, the strongest benefits are to be gained in developing regions lacking such measurement networks, where CML data can make a big difference. Only few studies address this, generally using relatively small datasets.</p><p>This research focuses on tropical CML rainfall estimation in Nigeria. Nigeria has a dense network of CMLs and relatively few official measurement stations, making it an interesting area to study the effectiveness of CML precipitation measurements. Our dataset spans 4 regions within Nigeria, from the coast to inland, with several large cities (Lagos; Ibadan) as well as areas with less dense CML networks to investigate the influence. We employ the open-source R package RAINLINK to obtain 15-min rainfall maps based on data from several thousand CMLs during the rainy season. We optimise the most important RAINLINK parameters by comparing to rain gauge data, considering local network and environmental conditions. In addition, disdrometer data from Nigeria (or similar climates) are used to compute the values of the physically-based coefficients relating specific attenuation to rainfall rate.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Improving Multisensor Precipitation Estimation via Adaptive Conditional Bias–Penalized Merging of Rain Gauge Data and Remotely Sensed Quantitative Precipitation Estimates

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 2347-2365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Jozaghi ◽  
Mohammad Nabatian ◽  
Seongjin Noh ◽  
Dong-Jun Seo ◽  
Lin Tang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Computational Cost ◽  
Mean Field ◽  
Remotely Sensed ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Rain Gauge Data ◽  
Gauge Data ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Precipitation Estimates ◽  
Radar Satellite ◽  
Quantitative Precipitation Estimates

Abstract We describe and evaluate adaptive conditional bias–penalized cokriging (CBPCK) for improved multisensor precipitation estimation using rain gauge data and remotely sensed quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE). The remotely sensed QPEs used are radar-only and radar–satellite-fused estimates. For comparative evaluation, true validation is carried out over the continental United States (CONUS) for 13–30 September 2015 and 7–9 October 2016. The hourly gauge data, radar-only QPE, and satellite QPE used are from the Hydrometeorological Automated Data System, Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor System, and Self-Calibrating Multivariate Precipitation Retrieval (SCaMPR), respectively. For radar–satellite fusion, conditional bias–penalized Fisher estimation is used. The reference merging technique compared is ordinary cokriging (OCK) used in the National Weather Service Multisensor Precipitation Estimator. It is shown that, beyond the reduction due to mean field bias (MFB) correction, both OCK and adaptive CBPCK additionally reduce the unconditional root-mean-square error (RMSE) of radar-only QPE by 9%–16% over the CONUS for the two periods, and that adaptive CBPCK is superior to OCK for estimation of hourly amounts exceeding 1 mm. When fused with the MFB-corrected radar QPE, the MFB-corrected SCaMPR QPE for September 2015 reduces the unconditional RMSE of the MFB-corrected radar by 4% and 6% over the entire and western half of the CONUS, respectively, but is inferior to the MFB-corrected radar for estimation of hourly amounts exceeding 7 mm. Adaptive CBPCK should hence be favored over OCK for estimation of significant amounts of precipitation despite larger computational cost, and the SCaMPR QPE should be used selectively in multisensor QPE.

scholarly journals Why Is Growth in Developing Countries So Hard to Measure?

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-242
Author(s):  
Noam Angrist ◽  
Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg ◽  
Dean Jolliffe
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
National Accounts ◽  
Large Share ◽  
System Of National Accounts ◽  
Growth Measurement ◽  
Audit Data

Occasional widely publicized controversies have led to the perception that growth statistics from developing countries are not to be trusted. Based on the comparison of several data sources and analysis of novel IMF audit data, we find no support for the view that growth is on average measured less accurately or manipulated more in developing than in developed countries. While developing countries face many challenges in measuring growth, so do higher-income countries, especially those with complex and sometimes rapidly changing economic structures. However, we find consistently higher dispersion of growth estimates from developing countries, lending support to the view that classical measurement error is more problematic in poorer countries and that a few outliers may have had a disproportionate effect on (mis)measurement perceptions. We identify several measurement challenges that are specific to poorer countries, namely limited statistical capacity, the use of outdated data and methods, the large share of the agricultural sector, the informal economy, and limited price data. We show that growth measurement based on the System of National Accounts (SNA) can be improved if supplemented with information from other data sources (for example, satellite-based data on vegetation yields) that address some of the limitations of SNA.

scholarly journals Quantitative Precipitation Estimation by Combining Rain gauge and Meteorological Radar Network in Viet Nam

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 36-50
Author(s):  
Chiho Kimpara ◽  
Michihiko Tonouchi ◽  
Bui Thi Khanh Hoa ◽  
Nguyen Viet Hung ◽  
Nguyen Minh Cuong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Viet Nam ◽  
Quantitative Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Radar Network ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Meteorological Radar

scholarly journals Evaluation of radar-based precipitation estimates for flash flood forecasting in the Three Gorges Region

2015 ◽  
Vol 368 ◽  
pp. 89-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Li ◽  
D. Yang ◽  
Y. Hong ◽  
Y. Qi ◽  
Q. Cao
Keyword(s):  
Flash Flood ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Flood Forecasting ◽  
Three Gorges ◽  
Distributed Hydrological Model ◽  
Ground Clutter ◽  
Three Gorges Region ◽  
Physically Based ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Flash Flood Forecasting

Abstract. Spatial rainfall pattern plays a critical role in determining hydrological responses in mountainous areas, especially for natural disasters such as flash floods. In this study, to improve the skills of flood forecasting in the mountainous Three Gorges Region (TGR) of the Yangtze River, we developed a first version of a high-resolution (1 km) radar-based quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) consideration of many critical procedures, such as beam blockage analysis, ground-clutter filter, rain type identification and adaptive Z–R relations. A physically-based distributed hydrological model (GBHM) was established and further applied to evaluate the performance of radar-based QPE for regional flood forecasting, relative to the gauge-driven simulations. With two sets of input data (gauge and radar) collected during summer 2010, the applicability of the current radar-based QPE to rainstorm monitoring and flash flood forecasting in the TGR is quantitatively analysed and discussed.

scholarly journals Performance Evaluation of Satellite-Based Rainfall Products over Nigeria

Climate ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Kingsley N. Ogbu ◽  
Nina Rholan Hounguè ◽  
Imoleayo E. Gbode ◽  
Bernhard Tischbein
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Climatic Zones ◽  
Rainfall Characteristics ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Climate Data Record ◽  
Local Rainfall

Understanding the variability of rainfall is important for sustaining rain-dependent agriculture and driving the local economy of Nigeria. Paucity and inadequate rain gauge network across Nigeria has made satellite-based rainfall products (SRPs), which offer a complete spatial and consistent temporal coverage, a better alternative. However, the accuracy of these products must be ascertained before use in water resource developments and planning. In this study, the performances of Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS), Precipitation estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks–Climate Data Record (PERSIANN-CDR), and Tropical Applications of Meteorology using SATellite data and ground-based observations (TAMSAT), were evaluated to investigate their ability to reproduce long term (1983–2013) observed rainfall characteristics derived from twenty-four (24) gauges in Nigeria. Results show that all products performed well in terms of capturing the observed annual cycle and spatial trends in all selected stations. Statistical evaluation of the SRPs performance show that CHIRPS agree more with observations in all climatic zones by reproducing the local rainfall characteristics. The performance of PERSIANN and TAMSAT, however, varies with season and across the climatic zones. Findings from this study highlight the benefits of using SRPs to augment or fill gaps in the distribution of local rainfall data, which is critical for water resources planning, agricultural development, and policy making.

scholarly journals Impact of the Altitudinal Gradients of Precipitation on the Radar QPE Bias in the French Alps

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Faure ◽  
Guy Delrieu ◽  
Nicolas Gaussiat
Keyword(s):  
Ground Level ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Altitudinal Gradients ◽  
French Alps ◽  
Rain Gauges ◽  
Quantitative Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Radar Data Processing

In the French Alps the quality of the radar Quantitative Precipitation Estimation (QPE) is limited by the topography and the vertical structure of precipitation. A previous study realized in all the French Alps, has shown a general bias between values of the national radar QPE composite and the rain gauge measurements: a radar QPE over-estimation at low altitude (+20% at 200 m a.s.l.), and an increasing underestimation at high altitudes (until −40% at 2100 m a.s.l.). This trend has been linked to altitudinal gradients of precipitation observed at ground level. This paper analyzes relative altitudinal gradients of precipitation estimated with rain gauges measurements in 2016 for three massifs around Grenoble, and for different temporal accumulations (yearly, seasonal, monthly, daily). Comparisons of radar and rain gauge accumulations confirm the bias previously observed. The parts of the current radar data processing affecting the bias value are pointed out. The analysis shows a coherency between the relative gradient values estimated at the different temporal accumulations. Vertical profiles of precipitation detected by a research radar installed at the bottom of the valley also show how the wide horizontal variability of precipitation inside the valley can affect the gradient estimation.

scholarly journals Evaluation of global fine-resolution precipitation products and their uncertainty quantification in ensemble discharge simulations

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 903-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Qi ◽  
C. Zhang ◽  
G. Fu ◽  
C. Sweetapple ◽  
H. Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
Hydrological Models ◽  
Distributed Hydrological Model ◽  
Precipitation Product ◽  
Physically Based ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Discharge Simulation ◽  
Fine Resolution

Abstract. The applicability of six fine-resolution precipitation products, including precipitation radar, infrared, microwave and gauge-based products, using different precipitation computation recipes, is evaluated using statistical and hydrological methods in northeastern China. In addition, a framework quantifying uncertainty contributions of precipitation products, hydrological models, and their interactions to uncertainties in ensemble discharges is proposed. The investigated precipitation products are Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) products (TRMM3B42 and TRMM3B42RT), Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS)/Noah, Asian Precipitation – Highly-Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water Resources (APHRODITE), Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks (PERSIANN), and a Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMAP-MVK+) product. Two hydrological models of different complexities, i.e. a water and energy budget-based distributed hydrological model and a physically based semi-distributed hydrological model, are employed to investigate the influence of hydrological models on simulated discharges. Results show APHRODITE has high accuracy at a monthly scale compared with other products, and GSMAP-MVK+ shows huge advantage and is better than TRMM3B42 in relative bias (RB), Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency (NSE), root mean square error (RMSE), correlation coefficient (CC), false alarm ratio, and critical success index. These findings could be very useful for validation, refinement, and future development of satellite-based products (e.g. NASA Global Precipitation Measurement). Although large uncertainty exists in heavy precipitation, hydrological models contribute most of the uncertainty in extreme discharges. Interactions between precipitation products and hydrological models can have the similar magnitude of contribution to discharge uncertainty as the hydrological models. A better precipitation product does not guarantee a better discharge simulation because of interactions. It is also found that a good discharge simulation depends on a good coalition of a hydrological model and a precipitation product, suggesting that, although the satellite-based precipitation products are not as accurate as the gauge-based products, they could have better performance in discharge simulations when appropriately combined with hydrological models. This information is revealed for the first time and very beneficial for precipitation product applications.

scholarly journals Error Analysis of Satellite Precipitation Products in Mountainous Basins

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 1778-1793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiwen Mei ◽  
Emmanouil N. Anagnostou ◽  
Efthymios I. Nikolopoulos ◽  
Marco Borga
Keyword(s):  
Error Analysis ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Heavy Precipitation ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Satellite Precipitation ◽  
Quantitative Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Precipitation Regimes ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
High Precipitation

Abstract Accurate quantitative precipitation estimation over mountainous basins is of great importance because of their susceptibility to hazards such as flash floods, shallow landslides, and debris flows, triggered by heavy precipitation events (HPEs). In situ observations over mountainous areas are limited, but currently available satellite precipitation products can potentially provide the precipitation estimation needed for hydrological applications. In this study, four widely used satellite-based precipitation products [Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) 3B42, version 7 (3B42-V7), and in near–real time (3B42-RT); Climate Prediction Center (CPC) morphing technique (CMORPH); and Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Imagery Using Artificial Neural Networks (PERSIANN)] are evaluated with respect to their performance in capturing the properties of HPEs over different basin scales. Evaluation is carried out over the upper Adige River basin (eastern Italian Alps) for an 8-yr period (2003–10). Basin-averaged rainfall derived from a dense rain gauge network in the region is used as a reference. Satellite precipitation error analysis is performed for warm (May–August) and cold (September–December) season months as well as for different quantile ranges of basin-averaged precipitation accumulations. Three error metrics and a score system are introduced to quantify the performances of the various satellite products. Overall, no single precipitation product can be considered ideal for detecting and quantifying HPE. Results show better consistency between gauges and the two 3B42 products, particularly during warm season months that are associated with high-intensity convective events. All satellite products are shown to have a magnitude-dependent error ranging from overestimation at low precipitation regimes to underestimation at high precipitation accumulations; this effect is more pronounced in the CMORPH and PERSIANN products.

scholarly journals Deep Learning for Precipitation Estimation from Satellite and Rain Gauges Measurements

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 2463
Author(s):  
Arthur Moraux ◽  
Steven Dewitte ◽  
Bruno Cornelis ◽  
Adrian Munteanu
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Multiscale Analysis ◽  
Mean Squared Error ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Probability Of Detection ◽  
Precipitation Rate ◽  
Rain Gauges ◽  
Squared Error ◽  
Precipitation Estimation ◽  
Deep Learning Model

This paper proposes a multimodal and multi-task deep-learning model for instantaneous precipitation rate estimation. Using both thermal infrared satellite radiometer and automatic rain gauge measurements as input, our encoder–decoder convolutional neural network performs a multiscale analysis of these two modalities to estimate simultaneously the rainfall probability and the precipitation rate value. Precipitating pixels are detected with a Probability Of Detection (POD) of 0.75 and a False Alarm Ratio (FAR) of 0.3. Instantaneous precipitation rate is estimated with a Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of 1.6 mm/h.

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